Washington, DC, had a smaller middle class than any state, with just 36.6% of households in the capital in the middle-income bracket. Because it is not a state, we've omitted it from the following list.

Here are the 15 states with the smallest share of households falling in that middle-income bracket, along with the share of lower-income households below 2/3 the national median, and the share of upper-income households above 200%:

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15. Georgia: 45.0% of households are middle income. The state's median household income of $56,183 was a bit below the national median of $60,336.

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Share of lower-income households: 37.6%

Share of higher-income households: 17.4%

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14. South Carolina: 44.8% of households are middle income. Meanwhile, the state had a larger than average share of lower-income households and a smaller share of higher-income households.

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Share of lower-income households: 41.7%

Share of higher-income households: 13.5%

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13. Connecticut: 44.2% of households are middle income. Connecticut is the mirror image of South Carolina, with a larger share of higher-income families than most states.

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Share of lower-income households: 27.6%

Share of higher-income households: 28.2%

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12. Arkansas: 43.9% of households are middle income, and the state had the third-smallest share of higher-income households in the country.

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Share of lower-income households: 45.0%

Share of higher-income households: 11.1%

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11. Rhode Island: 43.5% of households are middle income. Rhode Island's median household income of $63,870 was a bit higher than the national median.